Emotional Health and Wellbeing Counselling

Menstruality is committed to providing a counselling service that is focused on women's emotional health and wellbeing through their unique feminine experiences. Specialising in natural life transitions of all women, from adolescence through to menopause.

It seems, that more and more women are suffering with ‘women’s issues’ at some point or another throughout their lives. There is an endless supply of information, both in mainstream advertising and on the net, suggesting that we take this or do that, to cure or remedy these ‘issues’. In most cases, this only addresses a part of the problem.

It’s not that supporting the body with some kind of supplement or medicine is not useful, often to the contrary, but in our stressful lives I think that some kind of outside support is just about essential these days and these remedies may only address part of the issue. What I am trying to say, is that for most women, physical and emotional symptoms are often a way that our body is trying to communicate with us, requesting, in it’s own way that we make some changes in our lives or perhaps have some memory be heard and witnessed.

In our lives, we do not find satisfaction when we attempt to be in total command of our situation, avoid fears and pain, or make everything safe and comfortable. When we spend our lives saying “no” to what life offers, our creativity dries up and we become stilted and one-dimensional.G Kelly *

In our society, both men and women are leading stressful lives, with pressures to keep up and stay ahead. This continues to wreak havoc on our physical-emotional health and wellbeing. Cultivating awareness to interpret the bodies unique language is an essential step towards achieving good health. Certainly, when health goes off the rails, realignment often requires support from one or more carefully selected caregivers. It also provides an opportunity to learn what our body is trying to communicate. Whenever we forget or choose not to listen to our bodies messages, illness, pain and disease can result and even when the symptoms are alleviated with medication, we see them return in some other guise, in an attempt to remind us that we have not really listened to the message.

Being raw to the mystery and full to the brim with the budding and flowering of new awareness is a rewarding experience. Great understanding can be achieved through developing an awareness of the spiritual aspects related to the menstrual cycle. Through this we can learn to connect deeply with ourselves and understand the messages that our dear bodies are trying to teach us, both through our pain and through the hidden meanings behind our dreams. Our dreams offer great insight into parts of life that are ripe and ready to be understood and brought into consciousness.

When we speak out the deep “yes” from our hearts, we are celebrating our existence and all its light and shadows. G Kelly *

A woman’s experience is varied and the way that each woman responds to similar experiences is also unique. So be open to how your body feels and the physical and emotional messages it is providing. You may have no understanding as to why you are experiencing physical or emotional pain or it may be very specific. Such specific possibilities could include:-

Menstrual pain, both physical and emotional, some which may have medical terms attached (which are too numerous to list) and others without.

PMS or PMT

Traumatic birth experience

Miscarriage and loss

Termination

Infertility

Pre-menopausal or peri-menopausal related symptoms

Relationship issues

Sexual abuse

General feelings of depression, shame, grief or loss, fear or anger

It is perfectly normal to feel fearful when addressing some triggered emotional or physical pain that is present. It takes courage to open our hearts and greet the opportunities to listen to the stories that our bodies are trying to communicate, but when we find this ‘Yes’ in ourselves, we can listen and move on to reach greater emotional health and wellbeing.

Saying the “Great Yes” makes us accessible and available to life, in the present moment. It is a spirituality of affirmation. It requires the practice of mindfulness so that we may be truly present to the experience.

* excerpts from Georgina Kelly's article 'Saying The Great YES!' first published in The Mother Magazine, Autumn 2004, issue 11